By FROM NEWS RELEASE
April 16, 2011 at 6:04 p.m.Updated April 15, 2011 at 11:16 p.m.

Two Victoria East High School students won top honors and two college scholarships recently at the annual University of Houston-Victoria/Victoria College Math and Computer Science Awareness Day.

Yang Yang and Steven Lin shared first place in the math portion of the contest, topping other competitors from Victoria East and St. Joseph High School. Yang placed first after points from contest exams were tallied.

Yang and Lin were awarded scholarships to both UHV and VC, with Yang winning $2,000 worth, or $500 for four semesters, and Lin winning $1,000 in scholarships, or $250 for four semesters. The computer science portion of the contests was called off because of a lack of participants.

"April is a busy month for high schools in the area with activities from sports to band to statewide tests such as the TAKS," said Alireza Tavakkoli, UHV assistant professor of computer science. "We look forward to working closely with the high school teachers to build the event up and attract more students to participate in our future competitions."

The students took part in contests and saw demonstrations on computer animation and mathematics from UHV faculty members. The keynote address was given by Dmitri Sobolev, UHV assistant professor of biology, who spoke on mathematical patterns in everything from seashells to stars in the galaxy.

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MORE WINNERS Team winners were as follows:Second-place awards went to Stephanie Kasper of St. Joseph High School, who won $250 in scholarships for two semesters, and St. Joseph High School freshman David Du, who won a VC scholarship.

Shahed Nielsen, a Victoria East freshman, won tuition for two dual-credit courses for his third-place finish. Ahmad Sabbagh of St. Joseph High School also finished third.

First place - Team Platypi, Stephanie Kasper, Ahmad Sabbagh, David Du and Christian Wenske of St. Joseph High School.